A Little Faith Goes a Long Way: Series on “Change” Pt. 2

I am doing a little series on “Change” for Fall here at “We Live Inspired!” this month.  If you missed Part 1 (Change-Embrace, Resist, or Avoid?) click HERE to catch up!  I ended the first article on change mentioning how moving forward we would explore how to embrace it, since it’s inevitable.  I am learning right along with you here, so while searching my soul for answers on this, what came to me was that the road to change starts with 2 things:

1. Acceptance.   Since change IS inevitable, somehow we must learn to make peace with it.  Sometimes I can be very stubborn in this area-clinging to what I know, instead of allowing the natural flow and rhythm of life to wash over me.  With acceptance comes the necessary “letting go” (I will probably revisit that thought in a future related article).  We need to accept the fact that change happens no matter what and that we will learn to adapt to whatever changes are brought our way.  This leads me to the second thing that came to mind-
2. Faith.  Having faith in the unknown.  Trusting the process-of life.  Having the faith in ourselves, in the life process and in a higher being, that we WILL be able to handle the next phase, chapter, or whatever is around that next bend in the road (admittedly I struggle here).

Faith and Trust are kind of like 2 inseparable sisters.  They are best buds-they go everywhere together.  If I were to have a little fun here and personify these “sisters”, I would say that Faith is humble and meek.  She may get anxious or unsure of herself at times, but she is always down on her knees in prayer , taking it all to the Lord.  (ok well, now the verse Philippians 4:6 is coming to my head, as that would be the exact verse to go with that visual!)  I picture Trust as the slightly more laid back sister, who has an inner confidence because she embraces the unknown, trusting that it will all work together for her good (now that sounds like Romans 8:28!).

Funny how sometimes when I get to writing, something else takes over and even the writing itself “changes” from what I had planned.   That is what just happened above.  What I had planned on sharing was a quote that is the start to a book I am going to read this week on change, called “Who Moved My Cheese?”  Let’s take a look at that :

” Life is no straight and easy corridor along which we travel free and unhampered,but a maze of passages, through which we must seek our way, lost and confused, now and again checked in a blind alley.  But always, if we have faith, a door will open for us.  Not perhaps one that we ourselves would ever have thought of, but one that will ultimately prove good for us.”   ~A.J. Cronin

The good news is that we don’t have to start out with this HUGE faith.  We can start on a smaller scale.  Tiny faith.  The size of a mustard seed.

That is a comfort for those times when we compare our faith to others, and think “Gee, if I only had this amazing faith like so and so, things would be so much easier!”.  Or the “I am trying to believe, but deep down I am really struggling with this.”

We can give ourselves permission to feel this way if necessary and not feel guilty of any lack of faith in the process of change that we may have.  After all- Faith the size of a mustard seed is all it takes to move mountains.  If we start out with even just a little bit of it, we are told (Matthew 17:20) that we can do the impossible!  A little faith goes a long way….

For some reason I was led to several scriptures in writing today, so if you are interested in doing your own private study to go along with this article, I would suggest looking up the verses mentioned in parentheses above and also reading all of Hebrews 11, for several pretty amazing examples on faith! 

Do you struggle with having faith in the unknown?  What are some of the ways that have helped you to learn to trust the process more as you deal with changes?

linked@On your Heart Tues. Beauty for Ashes, Encourage One Another Wed.,   Women Living Well,  Mercy Ink,

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